NOW JUDGE HAS SHOT AT AL MVP:
With Trout now out, door opens
ALTIMORE — And just like that, with Mike Trout set to miss the next 6-8 weeks due to injury, Aaron Judge has a real shot at winning the AL MVP award if he continues to produce. Judge put himself right in the thick of the conversation with his tremendous start. But with two-time AL MVP winner Trout posting an insane .337/.461/.742 triple-slash line out of the gate, the Yankees’ 25-year-old rookie figured to have a hard time pulling the upset.
But now, with Trout set to go under the knife on Wednesday to repair the torn UCL in his left thumb, Judge is seemingly in the driver’s seat. The 6-foot-7, 282-pound slugger, who produced two hits, two RBI and a walk in the Yankees’ 8-3 victory over the Orioles on Tuesday night at Camden Yards, currently leads the majors in homers (17) and is tied with Tampa Bay’s Corey Dickerson for the AL lead in runs scored (39).
“He’s in a league of his own right now,” teammate and mentor Matt Holliday said. Judge is just the second rookie to hit 17 or more homers before the start of June, joining Mark McGwire (19 in 1987 with Oakland). And Judge leads everyone with seven homers of at least 430 feet — including Monday night’s 431-foot shot. “I want to get a World Series ring first. I’m not paid enough to worry about who’s getting MVP right now,” said Judge, who’s making $544,500 in 2017. “Just trying to take it one day at a time and just keep winning ballgames.” Project Judge’s numbers out over a full season and you’d get 56 homers, 129 runs scored and a 1.112 OPS. Alex Rodriguez captured MVP as a Yankee in 2005 (48 HR, 124 R, 1.031 OPS) and 2007 (54 HR, 143 R, 1.067 OPS). And Judge has been equally impactful on defense, ranking second among all right fielders in defensive runs saved (six) behind only Boston’s Mookie Betts (nine), according to FanGraphs (entering Tuesday). “If he keeps doing this, I don’t see why not,” CC Sabathia said following Judge’s first career grand slam on Sunday in the Bronx. The Yankees (30-19) certainly wouldn’t be in first place in the AL East without him. And given that their offense had sputtered a bit of late — averaging just 3.4 runs per game from May 18-29 — they need Judge to keep rolling at the plate. It’s hard to believe this is the same guy who was just trying to win a starting
spot out of spring training.
“It’s been fun watching him,” Judge’s teammate and close friend Rob Refsnyder said. “Obviously he and I are pretty close, so it’s nice seeing him have so much success. When I was working with him in the offseason, I noticed a huge difference in his swing, so I’m not surprised by it at all.”
Refsnyder expanded: “Just the way the ball is carrying to the opposite field for him. Just the intent to do damage and his approach. The way he’s taking fastballs to right field and off-speed pitches to left-center. It’s just a true testament to his character. I mean, he knew what he wanted to do last year, and he struggled. A lot of people wrote about his struggles, so I think it’s a true testament to his character that he took it personal and he worked his butt off. And honestly, I think there’s a lot more in there. He’s working hard, but there’s still stretches of at-bats where he’s grinding it out and hasn’t felt locked in at the plate all year, so it’s just a true testament to Aaron and his I character.” f you’re waiting for him to slow down, Judge’s splits in April (.303/.411/.750) and May (.323/.423/.689) have remained consistent. You can’t count out a late resurgence by Trout, the best player in the game, or Houston’s Carlos Correa, who is hitting .385/.457/.670 in May (entering Tuesday) after hitting .233/.309/.349 in April. But Judge is right there.
And if he were to win, he could become just the third player to be named Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, joining Fred Lynn (1975) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001).
What a feat that would be.